Testing
TRF Scores, Cognitive Measures, and Socioeconomic Status
as Predictors of Reading Impairment among French Children

Much
of the literature on reading impairment is based on
Anglophone populations. Because there are so many gaps
and inconsistencies in relations between the spelling
and pronunciation of English words, the findings from
Anglophone populations may not be generalizable to other
languages. To test prediction of reading impairment
in French children, Fluss et al. (2009) administered
individual reading tests to French 7-year-olds who were
identified as being at least one year behind in reading
skills. One hundred poor readers were then compared
with 50 demographically matched good readers on the
TRF problem scales, a variety of cognitive measures,
and several indices of SES. Multiple regression analyses
showed that phonological awareness was the strongest
predictor of decoding skills involved in reading, but
that the Inattention subscale of the TRF Attention Problems
syndrome was the second strongest predictor, accounting
for an additional 25% of variance in decoding skills.
Although most of the other TRF problem scales were also
significantly associated with poor decoding skills,
the Inattention score was the main TRF predictor of
poor decoding skills. Among the indices of SES, maternal
educational level predicted a significant but small
percentage of variance in decoding skills. The authors
concluded that "PA (phonological awareness) appears
to be the major factor associated with reading impairment
not only in English but also in French," and that
"inattentiveness explains most of the link between
emotional/behavioral disturbances and reading"
(p. 212).